Sea Shepherd Trilogy
by queenpearl
Summary: Each story is from a different POV. 1. POV of a humpback whale off the coast of California in 1975. 2. POV of a minke whale in the Southern Ocean in 2009 3. POV of Paul Watson
1. Chapter 1: Windows to the Soul

_Do you remember that day, all those years ago? When my blood was shed and your heart was turned? I do, I remember and I shall never forget it._

CALIFORNIA APRIL 1975

I am Samar. For nigh a decade of human time I have ruled these waves off the land called California, USA. I am strong, I am mighty, I am fearless. I bow to nothing and no one. As the King of the Sperm Whales it is my duty to guide my heard to a better home for the winter. We travel far. We escaped the Bering's cold bite in autumn and traded it for the warmth of paradise, now we return to that cold, forbidding sea, and the bounties of food that await us there.

We travel in packs, usually no more than 20. We are on our guard for this part of the journey. Lookouts and scouts always have a wary eye out for the dreaded human hunters. They come in droves this time of year. They know our course and they intercept us. There is little we can do once they've given chase. We try to flee but they will always catch us. With their large steel hulks and exploding harpoons, they kill us by the thousands. We are helpless and always, our cries go unheard. I never understood how such a small, fragile species could possess such powerful weapons.

I turn to my beloved wife beside me and I relate my fears to her. "What if we are caught this year?" As always she assures me. "Never fear my love, for none will harm this herd when you're around." I am consoled by her words but I know I will ask again for her reassurance. Her patience and kindness have always been her most redeeming qualities.

I am shaken from my thoughts from the last sound I'd hoped to hear. "Hunters, approaching fast from the west" came the scouts cry. Those very words are enough to make even a Sperm Whale quiver in fear. Nonetheless, I am leader and for the sake of the herd I must not show fear. "We run for the mounds, now!" I order and all make haste for the small feeding grounds far to the east.

We are too slow and the hunters catch up to us. They slow to match our speed, chasing us and wearing us down. They know, they know we must come to surface. Their awful shrieking engines sound their presence in my ears. The noise is dreadfully uncomfortable and I wish to surface but I know I cannot, for I will be killed.

Alas, we are mammals just as they are and we must have air eventually. My wife I can see is struggling. She cannot run for much longer, she must surface. I beg her not to go, that I will go first. I am swift enough to avoid those deadly harpoons but she refuses. She is too tired and too desperate to wait for me. She must go now. With a heavy heart I agree and she rushes past me to the surface. I slow and order the rest of the herd to do the same, watching her carefully as she nears the rippling waves.

She takes a gasp of air and for a few seconds all is quiet and I start to think we will be alright, then came an awful explosion. My wife screamed in agony as the harpoon struck her side. She was to have our children this autumn but I know at least her unborn young was killed instantly and didn't have to suffer like she did.

Her screams echo in my mind and I know they will haunt me for as long as I may live. Never again shall I find another like her. There are plenty of females in my herd but none will ever take her place in my heart. There are no words to describe my pain as I watch her die. She rolls to her side, fixing me with one last, love-filled stare. Then the light dies forever from her eyes.

I scream a cry of sadness, that morphs into a cry for vengeance. Lashing my tale, I charge the human vessel. I leap out of the water. I shall do what their fictional Moby Dick had done, I shall crush these bugs out of existence forever. One aims his harpoon at me and fires. The spear strikes my head and explodes. With a cry equal to that of my wife's, I fall back into the water, my blood raining down on all. I look at my herd, I stare at my firstborn son and say "My herd, is your herd. Lead them well my son." Icarus has always been strong-willed yet compassionate like his mother. He will be a fine leader. "Yes, father." He replies sadly and guides my herd to safety. I sigh. Though I know I am to die, at least my herd will be safe to fight another day.

I notice a smaller boat in the water close to me. It appears to be unarmed and its engine disabled. There could never be a better opportunity than this. I charge the craft, rearing up high out of the water. The three humans stare at me, awestruck yet fearful as they know they are to die.

But then you look at me. You, only a boy of 25. You look me in the eye and I can see your strong spirit within. I pause and drop back down, watching you closely. I knew then you were innocent. You never meant to harm me like the others. You tried to save me and although you failed, I know your heart is pure and your intentions good. I do not fear you, I have never feared any human. But unlike the rest, I respect you and I honor you.

We look each other in the eye, neither willing to move an inch. We are both frozen in time it seems. They say the eyes are windows to the soul and as mine close forever I can see yours beginning to open. My life is ending, but yours has only just begun.


	2. Chapter 2: The Purpose in Life

My sister and I are running for all we are worth. For the past few hours all we have known is blood and death as our siblings fall to the deadly spears of the humans. Our pod has dropped from 5 to just 2 as one by one we are killed off and for what? For money?

As I pant and struggle to keep ahead of the dreaded hunter behind me, I know the end is near. We cannot keep this up forever.

I recall the tales my brother has told me, my brother now dead, of these warriors, these Black Saviors that fight for us. As I surface to get a breath I cry out to the heavens. "Black Saviors of the Sea, I call upon you. Save us, protect my kind." It seems my prayer was answered for, behold, the metal bird. Their scout.

It circles overhead, watching us but it is merely a scout, it cannot do anything other than watch. I hear a deafening roar and above me the bird shudders in horror at the sight beside me. I watch, petrified, as my sister is struck.

"No!" I cry. "No, she is too young, take me, take me instead!" I beg. But my pleas go unanswered. The Sun People know no mercy, they care not for my kind, other than a source of mass profit we are nothing to them.

I dive below the surface and hear, for half an hour, the screams and dying cries of my sister. "Please let it end soon." I whisper. "She does not deserve to suffer, please." My sister's cries cease and I know she has died.

The hunter secures her body to its side and leaves. I follow, curious to see what is to become of my sister and I fall upon a sight which will never leave me.

Two ships cruise along at frightening speeds. The faster hunter draws alongside this monster of a ship. Remembering the tales my brother has told me, I know this must be the factory ship. The instigator of this terrible atrocity. It is death itself, this Death Star.

I snarl, ready to charge in. "No, you shall not take my sister this way." I shout when something catches my eye. A third ship, hidden behind the first as another hunter moves aside to allow the one with my sister to draw close.

The other ship is the purest shade of black I have ever seen. Yellow spikes run along its decks and a series of words coat its side but I cannot read human, I can only guess what it means.

I watch, transfixed as the black vessel charges bravely forward, attempting to put itself between the hunter and the factory ship. But the hunter is swift, the black ship sluggish as it tries.

I can hear the engines strain and I can hear the ships cry for vengeance. It rears its black head and I hear the screeching sound of metal as the two collide. The black nearly falls from the impact as the hunter slides sideways.

Shuddering, both ships back warily off each other and the black once again attempts to close the gap but it is too late. The lines are attached and my sister is hauled aboard the factory ship.

Although they have failed and I can feel their horror, I must admire and honor their courage. They have shown they are willing to die for my kind. They are determined to drive these hunters out for good and I vow to do all that I can to help them.

The great warrior Samar had once said that all have a purpose in life. I have found mine, just as that human found his. I am Thetis, cousin of the great Samar, and I am a follower of the Black Saviors.


	3. Chapter 3: The Black Saviors

I watch, horrorstruck as the Minke Whale is hauled aboard the factory ship, Nisshin Maru. The scene brings back memories, over 30 years old, of when I watched Samar die off the California coast in 1975.

Even today that memory still haunts me. No Samar, I never forgot it. I made a vow that day to avenge you, to protect all whalekind for the sake of this beautiful planet called earth.

Looking back on my life as an activist, I say I've done my job well. I am not a religious man, mind you but I must say I feel as though god chose me for this. We plunder the oceans, taking life after life without thought, without feeling. Words like sadistic, cruel, and unmerciful come to mind.

I wonder what my species has become. We believe, although we never voice it, that we are some divine ruler and that it is our God-given right to plunder nature to the fullest, reaping her of all she has to give and sparing none for the other species that share this world with us.

But really, all we are is a primitive naked ape that hides his animal behind technology. Other species that we consider less than us like the whales, the fish, the birds, they do not need technology to be intelligent. They are far more advanced than us and they know it.

When I looked into the dying eye of Samar, I knew then how insignificant we were. I looked into that eye and I saw anger, yes but I also saw something that shook me to the core. I saw pity in that eye. Pity, not for himself or for his kind but for us. He wondered how we could take life so thoughtlessly and so mercilessly and not give it a second thought.

I vowed then and there that I would defend the whales and all other species on this earth to my last breath. I have kept that vow well. I left that coward of a group, Greenpeace and formed my own.

Each time we enter the great ice land of the south known to us as Antarctica, I see the whales surround us, welcoming us with joy as if they know we are here to save them. They know, they know when we are here. I cannot say for certain how, maybe from the sound of our ship's engines. They surely recognize it by now.

As I stand on the bridge of my flagship, watching the Yushin Maru come alongside carrying the carcass of a dead Minke whale I know what I must do. I am not afraid, after all these years, I am practically immune to fear and the only thing I truly fear is fear itself.

I give the order and a shudder runs along the entire length of the ship as it collides with Yushin. My brave crew stand at the bow, throwing bottles of butyric acid at the railings and decks of the other ship. They endure the snowballs and golf balls the Japanese throw back at us.

We hold our ground, even as we are blasted by the powerful water cannons, we do not budge. We cannot, the lives of thousands of whales depend on us. Our efforts though are not enough to stop this whale from being transferred and although we have failed, I know the Japanese will not dare hunt again.

The message we sent is clear, we will never back down and never retreat. We will chase them to the ends of the earth and beyond until they leave Antarctica for good. I notice a spout of water and see a lone Minke whale surfacing, the last whale of the pod the Japanese had hunted down.

He runs close alongside us, still huffing from his ordeal with the whalers but I can see the joy on his face. Most will not believe me, most will think that whales cannot show emotion but I know they can.

When I saw Samar and his wife die that cold spring day in 1975, I could see their emotions. I could see their sadness, their pain. They can and do feel.

When people criticize us for our actions I say "We don't work for you, we work for the whales and if you can find one whale that disagrees with what we are doing, we won't do it again." Looking at that Minke whale, running alongside us and slapping his tale to cheer us on, I can say with conviction that we won't be changing our tactics anytime soon.

I know, without understanding him, that this whale is behind us, 100%.

Samar was right, when his eyes closed, mine were opened. I regret that it took his death to make me see the truth but sometimes that is just what is necessary to create greatness. Oh I won't deny I am great, at least by human standards and perhaps a little crazy too. Who wouldn't be, in my occupation. Nevertheless, I remain humble as I know how little my kind matter as a part of the whole.

"The sacrifice of one, for the sake of many." There couldn't be a better quote for me. I would gladly die to save a whale, to save the many.

Today, I send a message to all my foes who plunder the seas worldwide. "Woe to you, who stain the waters red with blood, who destroy families, and destroy life. We shall never surrender and never retreat. We shall chase you for all eternity if we must, as long as it takes until you vanish forever off the face of this earth. We are Neptune's Navy, the Black Saviors of the Sea. If you run, we shall chase you, if you try to hide, we will find you. There is nowhere for you to go but down. The road may be long, it may be dangerous, it may be bloody even, but in the end we shall prevail."

I look at the Nisshin Maru and I can almost feel the whalers defeat as they know they are done for this year. They shall not catch another whale as long as we're around. With fire in my eyes and the sweet taste of victory on my lips I say "We are the Sea Shepherds, and we have won."


End file.
